The Power of Yet: A Way to Re-frame Our Negative Self Talk
The Power of Yet has been a great way to re-frame our learning struggles in the classroom. The kids pick up and apply the concept quickly and are ready to add "yet" to the end of a self-critical statement which totally changes the meaning! For example, from time to time we might get down on ourselves for not learning a skill quickly. We can create negative self-talk and make comments to ourselves like, "I am not good at math!" But when children add the word, "yet" to the end of their statement, it changes the meaning from a final state of being to a new realm of possibility. "I am not good at math, yet!" means they will be good at math with time and effort.
Dr. Carol Dweck taught us about the importance of using a Growth Mindset vs. a Fixed Mindset. Growth Mindsets describe people who believe that their success can be determined by how much time and effort they give to a tricky situation. They welcome challenges, persist through difficult situations, learn from criticism and are inspired by others' success. Does this sound like you, yet?
A Fixed Mindset is when a person believes their intelligence or talents are fixed traits. They are more invested in product vs progress. Do you remember that awful saying, "Practice makes perfect!" ? This is how most of us grew up in the 70's and 80's. You were either born with it, or you were bad at it. End of story. Was this you?
Thank goodness for Growth Mindset work. It's natural to include in the classroom to support growing and developing minds. The children easily gravitate to it and will apply it all year long!
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